Elections

And so we had our student council elections... nothing much, same old stuff... same old politics... same old problems of democracy... its not the best candidate who wins, but the best orator. People get so blinded by language that they fail to see simple truths... and no, its not a comment on their intellect, its a fact that even when people know that they are probably wrong, they just do not want to change their decisions.

I have been struggling to put words as to why I opposed the popular choice, when their are so many people who have almost blind faith in the person that nothing would have ever made them change their votes. So much that the elections were in essence decided even before they started. But now I have found the reason why I do not support the person. The whole point is "Breaking the rules for the greater good."

Yes, that is exactly the kind of leaders who are needed in the present world, those who are ready to break the rules for the larger good. Unfortunately, we are still not ready for this fact even though we all know that it is the essence of existence in today's world. Even though we all break the rules and know that sometimes it is necessary to beak rules since rules are not infallible, still, the majority of us support the person who will never break or change the rules even if he knows they are wrong. Probably this has got to do with the fact that deep inside we are all still very religious and ethical in our thinking and even though we may not apply those ethics in our day to day life, we still want to see everybody around us drowned in ethics... most of which are meaningless anyways...

Relationships give you the leeway to falter once in a while

This is precisely what relationships are about... they allow you to make mistakes and learn from them. Nopes, this doesn't have a sad point to ponder on, this is about making mistakes and recovering from them. And yes, you do get a second chance.
But yes, you do have to be careful about the kind of relationships you have, for an unripe relationship doesn't let you falter and doesn't give you any second chances. Instead, even trying to get a second chance will just ruin whatever little is left of an unripe relationship, something which is so so common for me because I end up trusting people a lot earlier than i get trusted. Anyways, this is the stuff for another post.
Right now, its back to the wonderful opportunities you get from relationships. Yeah, you wouldn't believe it but I got this line from my marketing class but just how true this is. I just have to think of the past few weeks to see how true it is. And if that was not enough, there is enough history in the last one year to make me realize the importance of friends and relationships. Of course once the mirror breaks it can't be joined back, but at least it gives you that extra Teflon coating. Even if you may never be able to get back to where you were originally, at least it prevents you from falling all of a sudden and acts as that once in a lifetime chance to get yourself back on track. After that, it's all up to you.
But unripe relationships, ah, that's a different story all altogether.

Saawariya vs Om Shanti Om

Enough of serious topics... time for some entertainment...

Two of the biggest releases this year, Saawariya and OSM released simultaneously. One, a complete masala flick, the other a subtle story based on "White Nights". From bollywood records it seems OSO has won the battle but what exactly is each movie worth. Just like Farah Khan's first movie, Mai Hoo Na, OSO is a pure masala flick which takes a potshot at a lot of leading bollywood actors and directors. Saawariya on the other hand is pure artistry.

I have nothing against OSO but probably its too cliche'd a movie, and it seems more like a parody on Bollywood movies than a new movie. It is like the Bollywood equivalent of Scary movie. But while Scary movie is restricted to the college going audience just looking for kicks, the dearth of good movies in Bollywood has made OSO a movie for everybody and sadly, this happens at the expense of well made movie. In the long run, even though OSO might get the bucks, it will hardly be considered worth any mention in Bollywood. On the other hand, Sawariya might just be Sanjay Leela Bhansali's finest work so far. Far better than even Black, which gets very predictable but is carried on by the actors rather than the director. Saawariya though, is Sanjay Leela Bhansali all along...

Life

And so I continue on my quest. Time goes back to my school days...
There is a constant struggle to get good marks so that we can get admission into the next school I might have to shift (When you are moving every two years it does happen a lot). Then comes Tenth and you have to get good marks to get admission into sciences for eleventh. Ten you struggle for two years to get admission into a good engineering college where you struggle to get good grades for a successful MS application or perhaps your dream job. In your job you struggle to meet client deadlines and then you struggle preparing for CAT to get into a good B-School. In your B-school you are always having some deadlines to meet in your preparation for the corporate life.

Today we had the great Indian Tamasha of CAT exam for getting admission in a premier B-School of the country. More than 2 lakh students appear for the exam out of which probably just 5,000 will make it to a good college. Soon we will have JEE where again more than 2 lakh students will appear to get a seat into the IIT's


When exactly does life's struggle end? Or dies it never end... What happened to those happily ever after themes? When will my happily ever after moment come? Cleared JEE, Cleared CAT and here I am, assured of a good job my my B-School there still remains that element of unsatisfied needs, unfulfilled dreams and fading visions. Perhaps this is a way to understand our reason for existence... perhaps this is why we have life. Would there be so much fun in living if we didn't have the blips every now and then? Perhaps we will never know because as of now... nobody can put the tag "Happily Ever After" on their lives.

"He who would live must fight, he who will not fight in this world where eternal struggle is the law of life, has not the right to exist"

Lull before the storm (or after !!)

There is a famous saying of a lull before a storm. But there is always a silence after the storm as well.... so when you have just silence, how do you know whether it is the before one or the after one..
I mean all this while you can think that you have weathered the storm and its all quiet now, but what if this was just a precursor to things which might happen... what if the real thing is about to come and you have no idea about it?
Perhaps the bigger question is, when you have a big storm coming your way, can you do something about it even if you know that its coming?

Roller Coaster

Today was one of the most topsy turvy days I have seen... and unfortunately... it ends on a low rather than a high...
The day begins with great depths... then you muster all your courage and crawl out... and just when you think you have crawled out of the depths you slip back... almost half way back deep down.... you again get back your courage and think of a plan to crawl out by the next day... and just when you think you are about to end the day on a high... you are pushed.... no slip this time... you are pushed down to such depths that you begin questioning yourself.... and the entire logic of trying to crawl back day after day.....
But as I said in the previous post... HOPE... it can take your imagination places.... and thats what I have as of now... hope of crawling all the way out... if not by tomorrow then hopefully in a few weeks...

Hope

"Hope. It is the quintessential human delusion, simultaneously the source of your greatest strength and your greatest weakness" - The Architect, Matrix Reloaded

Hope is what makes us human. Without hope, there would hardly be any reason to look out for the future and there wouldn't be any reason to look ahead from the past. Every night, we hope for the Sun. Every autumn, we hope for the spring. With every failure, we hope for a success, and with every shattered dream we hope for another one to come true.

Is there a limit to how much hope we can depend on? I hope not, for it is one thing which gives you a good night's sleep after a bad cold day.

Good Night!!

Pataudi

My first taste of rural marketing.... As part of the disguised marketing research festival (Illumina), we were carrying out a research for ITC at the Dussehra Mela of Pataudi. For the uninformed, Pataudi was the capital of the kingdom of Nawab of Pataudi, the lineage of Saif and Soha Ali Khan.

Since we were not part of the volunteering team and I have always been a free bird preferring to stray away from the crowd, it was decided we (Me N Lukha) would be going on bike rather than with the rest of the group for whom cars had been arranged by the Illumina team.

The road was pretty impressive with Marigolds being grown on both sides of the road. Of course the government school and PWD rest houses also have a charm of their own when they are built in villages, away from the glitz offered by the cities.

In the mela itself, it was amazing to see people coming in Tractors and descending upon the Ram Leela ground Apart from our stall, there were stalls of eatables as well as toys for kids. Being totally devoid of grass, there was enough dirt being raised in the ground to almost eclipse the Sun. It was almost like there was a shade above us. The best part was when Ravana entered the ground on a tractor as his chariot. The dramatization was pretty impressive to say the least.

Our disguised research was full of mythological characters and it was pretty shocking to see people seeking blessings from our actors who had dressed up as different Gods. Kudos to our actors for such a wonderful job but it was more surprising as how people in villages still worship actors just because they are dressed up as a God.

Off from the mela we went for a small Pataudi trip. There was hardly anything other than the house of Nawab of Pataudi which was a gaurded estate with no visitors allowed.

The best part was the accuracy of the people when it came to distances. Whether we asked the distance o the nearest petrol pump or the distance of the highway, the replies of 2km and 9 kms were accurate up to 100 meters by the odometer. No wonder the government felt no need for putting up road signs along the entire rout !!!

The more things change, the more they remain the same

"plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose"
- Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr

Things, or more specifically, people can't change. The basic essence is so strongly imbibed in a person that if he changes, he stops being what he was. And since society and its rules and cultures are made by people, the world itself can never change, at least not fast enough to become a noticeable change.
But then again, what doesn't change in this world? Can there be change and at the same time an things remain the same. Stagnation is the same as death... for there can be no life without change, no life without the constant adjustments and adaptations that come with the rising Sun every morning. Some changes are so drastic that it is almost impossible to recognise the original identity. Harmless individuals become violent criminals. Hardcore murderers can become preachers of non violence.
Can things really change? Or is change just a new body with an old soul? There is a hidden purpose behind every action. The direct motive is always backed by a hidden one, sometimes so deeply hidden that we ourselves are unaware of it. And then there is another action, for a different motive. Are the two linked? Nobody can tell. Every single human being can be described in a few words. Those few words can explain all actions of the person, past and future, as well as what makes the person tick with somebody and blow off with somebody else. True change happens when a person can successfully change those few words which describe him. I don't know whether it can be done or not... for I myself can never be my own judge, but then, there is another definition of life, and that is again the continuous struggle for success, even if it means trying the impossible.

Cricket is the religion here

Date: 15th Sept... EPL match... venue... Mess where we incidentally also had Ganesh Puja going on

The poor guys who came to watch the match were turned away as TV could definitely not be turned on at the Puja Venue.

Date: 16th Sept... India Vs New Zealand in twenty20... How could we ever miss this match... everybody was sitting in the mess watching the match albeit barefoot.

Welcome to India guys... cricket is the biggest religion here.... where a Sachin dismissal brings greater grief than probably a terrorist attack right in the capital.....

India beats Pak 3-0

No, it isn't the scoreline of a football or a hockey match... its the scoreline of a cricket match... welcome twenty20.
I'm not going to really bore you with more details about the matches... but more so about the fans who watch these matches. Now Australia is supposedly the best team in cricket, not much in terms of talent, but in terms of fighting spirit... YES. Don't we all just love to see the winer loose, i mean so what if we couldn't win... this team which works so very hard and fights till the end should loose, how dare they fight so hard when our own team acts like a bunch of loser's. Anyways, when Zimbabwe beat Australia, nobody was more happy than the Indians.... doesn't matter that we ourselves couldn't beat this team.. at least somebody else did right....
And then came the mother of all matches, India vs Pakistan.... the match goes down to the last ball... and all this while there are all sorts of slogans... from India Jeetega to Miss miss miss miss during the bowl out (yeah thats what they call the cricket version of shootout).... and finally we won...

Now the whole point is.. not that we won or Australia lost, the whole point was the passion with which our generation sill watches the sport. Forget all those who said cricket is going down and probably its time for another sport to take over... the passion still exists...

Watching the match in the hostel with a 100 guys shouting at every moment is a great experience altogether... reminded me of college 1st year which was perhaps the last time I saw a match with such a voracious crowd... im sure no stadium can match such an atmosphere.... and yeah India faces New Zealand in first match of super 8 stage.... India Jeetega...

UPDATES

hmm so here i was giving finishing touches to the clients ppt when i suddenly get a call that ive been selected into MDI Gurgaon and I have to join in 3 days. And there creep in all the doubts whether I should join or give it another shot next year.
While im still thinking about it, as soon as I tell my bro and my parents about it, all my dilemma just melts away and I know im going to join.
Great, so ive missed my first weeks induction and I hardly know most of the guys here. But soon we are divided into groups and thats the beginning of assignments... and some more assignments, which we do very religiously for the first few weeks. Soon its mid terms... i mean seriously... mid terms within a month....

As soon as our mid terms end... its like an eternal feeling of freedom and independence.... nothing to do for the first time in more than a month !!!!!!
and well, its 10 days past mid terms and we have really gotten used to faculty giving all the assignments in the world... and ignoring them... not even trying to find out the pre reads for the next class... and to top it all having the guts to ask the prof to cancel a certain lecture because we aren't comfy with the timings....

ITS BACK TO COLLEGE AND IM LOVNG IT

Back to the Future !!!

OK don't ask me why "Back to the future"... probably because thats one flick I really liked when I was a kid... all three parts at that. And secondly, I just felt like giving this name because it feels like I'm really back in a full circle..... an year in job and Delhi, and I'm back to where I started from....

Anyways, some nice Quotes to restart "The Quoter"

Every Man searching his second Mother in the Name of LOVE.
Every Women gets her 1st Child in the Name of her LOVER
---------- Shakespeare

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor.Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover
--------- Mark Twain

An apology for the devil: it must be remembered that we have heard only one side of the case; God has written all the books.
-------- Samuel Butler

" I've missed over 9,000 shots in my career.
I've lost almost 300 games.
26 times I've been trusted to take the game-winning shot...and missed.

I've failed over and over and over again in my life.

And that is why I succeed! "

- - - Michael Jordan

" If you want things to be different, perhaps the answer is to become different yourself "


- - - Norman Vincent Peale

Even though U may be the best of friends there is always a limit which should never be crossed. Then it starts hurting........... ---- Anon


" Being happy doesn't mean every thing's perfect. It means that you have decided to see beyond the imperfections "

- - - Frank Kaiser



" A certain amount of opposition is a great help to a man. Kites rise against, not with the wind "

- - - John Neal